BERKELEY – The grit of the 2024 California volleyball team had never been on fuller display than it was on Saturday night, with the Golden Bears (10-8, 2-4 ACC) thrilling fans with a reverse sweep of Syracuse at Haas Pavilion just one day after being reverse-swept themselves at the hands of Boston College. Cal lost the first two sets, 21-25, 16-25, before winning the next three, 25-23, 25-23, 16-14, to send the Orange (12-6, 0-6) home in an instant classic.
 
The star of the show was fifth-year libero Gianna Bartalo, who posted 30 digs for just the 14th such performance in Cal history. She was joined in the double-digit digs category by junior Peyton DeJardin (21, a career high), junior Natalie Lau (14), sophomore Sophia Johnson (13) and sophomore Xuemeng (Maggie) Li (12); Li, DeJardin and Lau also earned double-doubles, respectively posting 17 kills, 11 kills and 36 assists, while Lau matched her career high in aces for the second-consecutive night with three. Freshman Kate Mansfield and senior Ellie Hamm each led the team with five blocks apiece, with Mansfield also adding 10 kills on the night.
 
Syracuse out-blocked the Bears, 17.0 to 10.0, and held Cal to just .073 hitting; however, the Bears won 22 total points off of Orange service errors alone and held the visitors to .175 thanks to a season-high 97 team digs.
 
The Blue & Gold started off the match strong with a 3-0 run and three early blocks from Hamm, but the Orange responded with a total of four runs of three-or-more points, including a mid-set six-point sequence, to keep Cal at bay and close out Set One. In the second set, Syracuse's offense found its footing, taking the lead from the get-go and controlling the pace the entire way with a .471 efficiency.
 
Cal found itself down by a huge margin early in the third, with the Orange ripping off a six-point run to start, but four-straight Syracuse errors allowed Cal to close the gap to three points (9-6); later, a pair of four-point runs for the Bears, capped off by Lau winning a joust at the net, gave Cal a 24-22 advantage before DeJardin clinched the set with her eighth kill of the night. The Bears carried that momentum into the fourth by scoring the next three points, but the Orange battled back to eventually take a 12-10 lead. A big five-point run from Cal that included solo blocks from Mansfield and DeJardin swung the set back the other way, 19-16; once again, Syracuse rallied to take a 23-21 lead, but the next four points – and the set – belonged to Cal, with Li capping off the run with her 16th kill and a roar that echoed the one from the energized crowd.
 
The Bears found themselves in a 3-0 hole to start off Set Five but were ultimately able to battle back thanks to some key kills and six Syracuse service errors. A 4-0 run by Cal gave the home team the lead at 7-6; soon afterwards, the Orange posted three-straight kills to claim an 11-8 advantage. The next six points of the match were an even exchange, with neither squad able to string together more than one in a row, but Cal finally found its mettle with a late five-point surge to end the evening with a victory.
 
UP NEXT
Cal travels to No. 1 Pitt (15-1, 5-1) next Friday and No. 15 SMU (13-4, 5-1) the following Sunday for its second ACC road trip of the season.
 
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